We will review all games available from the default Ubuntu packages. Because reviewing Linux games seems like a fun thing to do.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

EnemyLines 3

EnemyLines3 is a first-person shooter that scratches the same itch Solitaire does. It's a quick, simple to understand, infinitely replayable, and essentially mindless game. It's awesome!

There are four game types, and all of them feature the same simple mechanics: stay alive, while shooting these weird-looking little robot dudes who fall from the sky and eat buildings. There's a timed-game, where you beat the level by staying alive for a certain length of time, a kill-based level where you win by killing a certain number of the little guys, a find-the-keys level where you have to find all the keys to win (that seemed redundant, didn't it?), and a base-defense level where the goal is to keep the bad-guys from eating a specific square of building.

The graphics are old-school 3D as all-get-out, but somehow appealing anyway. My favorite is in the timed levels, because after you've gotten about halfway through the requisite time, there's a lot of building-less space, and you just see legions of the bad guys coming at you, moving in unison like faceless undead zombie hordes... of cuteness. Anything that combines undead zombie (robot) hordes and cuteness is okay in my book.

The sound's as simple as the graphics, but not really as charming. A 'zap' for your laser gun going off, a white-noise like sound for your jetpack (did I mention that you have a jetpack?), and an explosion when ever you kill a critter.

It really feels like 2D side-scrolling shooter gameplay more than anything else. It's fast-paced and fun, with minimal emphasis on tactics or strategy compared to the average FPS. Your health, ammo, and jet-pack fuel are all indicated by bars in the top-left corner of the screen, and can be replenished by waiting, or by picking up color-coded extras.

For a quick FPS-fix, this is great. The game actually connects to the developer's website after each time you die, to update the high-score list - someone had an awful lot of free time on their hands at some point, so I got nowhere near getting on the actual list, but if you're driven to compete, there ya go. For a small and very limited game experience, EnemyLines3 is just what the doctor ordered. If you demand a campaign or plot with your FPS (or multiplayer) then you're going to want to look elsewhere.